Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-30
ROMANCE OF THE PRESS.
The Wonderful Growth OF Newspapers
in this G0untry-EXtracts form
the Address OF q Journalist.
Look at the Records of &owspaperdcm
illustrations OF the Spirit
of the Times.
Baltimore American

Lyn- IA. 1lCehlaS delivered the g umnl
address before Western Maryland college
on 1.-THE R9mances of Journalism" Al
te- saying thse criticism of newspapers
was alwsYs good proofs of their
vigor and usefulness, he continued: No
newspaper has ever reached-or will ever
reaca-pe!fect,on. A thousand years
from now people VIII grumble at it Just
rs much as they do to-day. l. is and al
ways wall Oa-a human institution, with
human siEs, dealing with human affairs,
and rejecting tie vice Of humanity, as
well a5 the vlrsGe. lis Office IS 10 pyjhI
tire news, to give the history OF yesterday,
to chronicle the Joys and sor-
rows, tae blessings and Lie crimes. Toe
Texas editor VINO declared that "new5-
papers are bad, because so many bad
things happen" summed up the phiIoso-
ply CT the situation. The only way TO
wicke5ness out of the world. or 10 stop
peop!e from talking about it. As il now
is, nine people will read Tn account Of q
grea. battle, where onlv one viii wade
through the proceedings OF peace con-
gress. Tbs strength of the presa con-
sists, in part, OF the very fact that j, gives
US q picture CT human life, with the
shadow IS well as TIE light.
But i we examine the newspaper more
carefully We viii tad that crime takes up
very small part Of its pages, &AQ that
the columns represent all interests and
all departments of news and business eff
fort. We ind the pres an inSeTa able
part OF our national existence, an Indis-
penSable adjunct to our liberty. II is
the peoples university, the nations
storehOuse of facts. Ii has given brain q
market value aud has enlight-
ened and mcdernzed every sphere
OF labor. Tlonas Jefferson said
ne woGld rather live in coun-
try with newspapers and without e gov
ment than il a c6untry with ! govern
ment out withous newspapers. "Once
architecture was the PRESS said Dean
Stanley, Land told great thoughts 10 the
world IN stone; but now tle press IS
Architecture and is building up the world
of ideas and ussges." "a journslist."
exclaimed Napoleon /, "th4 means 3
grumhler, g censurer, giver OF advice, a
regent Of sovereiguS, tutor OF nations
-Four hostile newspapers are more to be
dreaded than 100, 600 bayoIets."
LOOK AT THEIR RECORD!
In q lani where the national growtn has
30rdercd on the marvellous the increase
IN newspapers has been over nine times
as gra3l Is tie increase in population.
Their value has multiplied SIX times IS
rapidly IS the cOuntry's wealth. In the
decade 1etTeen 1870 and 1880, when tue
United S.atns went ahead at steam en-
CINE speed, The progress was only enc
third q The progress CT its journalism
There vas 40 part OF the ADVANCEMENT
that did not feel the influence o. the
press. Wherever new settlement was
Ope2e,. the newspaper was there to boom
its attractions. When the Pacific rail-
roads were bsing built the printing press
pTgceG q the iron rails and locomotives
Where prosperous city now Stands
newspaper was prlnted on a dry goods
box before building had been erected
and before the infant town was old enough
10 know its own name.
The newspaper did not wait for the era
of swift transportation or the telegraph
or the telephone. 1t pushed out on It's
cWn behalf. 1t sent special vessels to
England TO secure early news; it esteb-
iiSned pcny expresses from Halifax to
New Orleans; It gave the government its
first information in the Mexican war; it
mad news SCnOoDers ilterCepting boats
from Europe. When Daniel Webster M ade
famous speech in Boston, Henry j
Raymond put a printing press and type
on q steamer, got his report, hurried TO
the boat, wrote it out and by the 1ime
New York wsS reached the edition Of the
paper was ready for Distribution. The
same thing was done for other cities. A
result OF al this enterprise is seen today
n our magnificent postal system, which
$ indirectly product of newspaper com
petition, and TO which the newspapers
contribute over 100000 year.
Fortunes are spent every day for mat
ter which costs the resder two cents.
When Emperor William made his famous
speech after The battle of Sadows, $1,000
IN gold was paid for its transmission to
al American paper. When Stanley
brought Livingstone's letters from the
interior of Africa, $4,000 was spent in
cabling them. When the new Spanish
treaty with this country was signed at
Madrid en- American Journal got
it 81 by cable at an out
lay Of $4,000. These sre the
larger instances, but they illustrate the
newspaper spirit. No matter what news
costs, Inc papers will have it, T1ey
cover this country with q thoroughness
that allows no guilty item to escape
They EAye sent expeditions to the Arctic
regions and TO the Equator, to Siberls
and to Africa, to the region of the Eskimo
and to the warm trail of the murderou.
Apache. They hsve explored subterranear
csverus and investigated ocean wrecks il
diving suits.
But A DAILY INCIDENT.
A few days ago L went carefully oveI
one OF our leading newspapers. 1t con
tanned, exclusive of sll advertising, IA
different items on almost every subject
imaginable. Adding the distances thai
the different dispatches had travelled, tbs
result was g total of over 100000 miles
What work ell this entailed in the shor
space Of q dozen hours will have to bt
left to the Imagination. And yet lit is bu
q daily incident of Journalism.
At the close Of the revolution there
were IL this country forty-three papers
whose aggregate circulation was very low
in the thousands. Nov there are u, 00t
newspaper publications, which print anC
distribute every yesr 600, 600, 900 copies
or over two copies for every man, woman
and child in the world.
II you want to carry out the figures, yo1
will find that the newspapers Of thi
country print every year III
rather comfortable total of near
ly 200,000,0O0 words of matter l
one person were to read twelve hours
day, he would be good many thousan,
years cid before he got through this mass
If Mr.. Rider Haggard's "She." the won
deriul woman who waited 1000 years for
young man without becoming an oil
maid, had set out to read as many news